Hugh Jackman Is Ripped & Ready In First Official Image From ‘The Wolverine’

Hugh Jackman Is Ripped & Ready In First Official Image From 'The Wolverine'

After enduring some delays and the exit of original directorDarren Aronofsky, lensing finally got underway at the end of the summer for “The Wolverine.” And while there have been some pretty weak sauce set photos and videos thus far, 20th Century Fox have unveiled the first official image of Hugh Jackman as everyone’s favorite mutant, and it looks appropriately raw.

If anything, this peek distances itself from the goofier, gaudier tone of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” which everyone would prefer to forget happened. This movie will instead start from a new page, with an international-heavy cast that includes Svetlana Khodchenkova as Viper, Hiroyuki Sanada as gang boss Shingen, Tao Okamoto as his daughter Mariko, Rila Fukushima as assassin Yukio, Hal Yamanouchi as gangster Yashida, Will Yun Lee as villain Silver Samurai and Brian Tee as a corrupt politician. And in case it wasn’t obvious, yes, this story is set in Japan.

James Mangold is at the helm of the superhero movie, which will claw its way to cinemas next summer on July 26, 2013.